Time Heals All Wounds
by SunflowersAndHoney
Summary: The one with Letty's parents. AU, I suppose. PLEASE READ TRIGGER WARNINGS INSIDE.


Title: Time Heals All Wounds

Author: Desi

Summary: The one with Letty's parents.

A/N: Based on a prompt from the lovely [ ** _abieeox_** ] over on tumblr! Trigger warning: graphic suicide, self-harm, mental illness: PTSD.

 _Prompt: I was wondering if you could do one on Letty's home life and something bad caused her to leave and move in with Dom &Mia. And then maybe a flash forward to the present & she sees her mom or someone for the first time and has conflicting emotions_ _…_

* * *

"Daddy!" Letty screamed. "Oh god, oh god, oh god! No! Daddy!"

Her heart literally skipped a beat just before it jumped into her throat and came spewing out of her mouth in the form of vomit. The sight before her was her every fear, embodied. She'd heard the shot from the kitchen and by the time her feet had made it to the garage, her father was dead. The single shot to his head was self-inflicted.

Rushing to his side, Letty fell to her knees, frantically attempting to push her father's brains back into his cranium. She hyperventilated before guttural, heart-wrenching sobs overtook her body. Tears fell from her eyes and her nose ran and she yelled and screamed for help, but it never came. Pulling her father's body into her lap, she cried over him.

Matéo had been battling with his PTSD for decades. But he had been doing good. At least, that's what Letty thought. The man was a war veteran, who'd seen countless deaths. Three of his greatest comrades had been killed, execution-style right before his eyes. He'd always told Letty that his survivor's guilt outweighed his grief; why had he survived? Why hadn't he been shot alongside them. He'd been commended as a hero, earning himself two of the highest honors the United States Army could dish out.

But he'd never felt like a hero. Instead, all he'd felt since being discharged was afraid. Afraid of dark corners, loud noises, screaming. Afraid that any of those things could set off a hallucination and he'd accidentally harm Letty or himself. Matéo's therapist had found him the right combination of medications that kept him well enough to enter back into the professional world where he worked for the airport, fixing baggage claim conveyor belts. But some days, even that had been too much. Too many people. Too many hands to watch. Anyone could be the enemy.

Now… now he'd lost the battle, and the war.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, her father's blood soaking her shirt, arms and jeans. It was long enough for her tear ducts to dry up, and overwhelming hiccups overtook her chest. And then those ceased, and she was left in a catatonic state, simply staring out of the garage door, at the neighborhood where life was still passing her by.

Letty didn't know when she'd left her father to find the house phone. She couldn't remember dialing 911, and couldn't be positive as to when the ambulance and police showed up. But she simply went with the motions, utterly devoid of any feeling. The brunette gave a statement, and when it was all said and done, her father was nothing but a case number.

"Miss. Miss!" A female officer urged. "Is there someone you can stay with tonight?"

"Yes." She replied so low the officer asked her the question again.

"Would you like us to take you there?"

Letty shook her head once and turned away, starting up the block. The officer called after her, but Letty couldn't hear. She couldn't see. She couldn't think.

Somehow she ended up in front of Dom's house. He, Leon and Vince were walking up at the same time she was, dressed as if they'd been playing basketball. Their laughter ceased when they saw her, dried blood soaking her through and through.

"Let?" Dom ran to her. "Letty!"

Just as he reached her, Letty's knees gave out and she sank to the ground. Dom caught her just in time, his hands tucked under her arms to hold her weight.

"Letty! Where are you hurt? Letty?" Dom shook her gently. "Come on, baby. Talk to me." He lifted a shirt to the bra, searching for any possible bullet or stab wounds.

"Not mine." She managed before she blacked out.

* * *

When Letty finally awoke, almost fourteen hours later, she was lying in Dominic's bed. There was no trace of her father's blood on her and she was dressed in a pair of Dominic's boxer shorts and one of his t-shirts. She sat up in bed, albeit a bit too quickly and the room spun a bit.

"Careful."

She turned in the direction of Dom's voice and when she saw him, tears welled immediately and sobs wracked her petite frame once again. Standing from the chair he'd been keeping vigil in, Dom rushed to her side, climbed into bed and held her tightly. He stroked her hair. Rubbed her back. Kissed the top of her head when there was an ebb in her tears. Squeezed her tighter when the crying started back up. Anything that he felt that she needed, Dom gave it to her.

"Dom," she choked, "my dad-."

"I know." He rubbed a large hand up and down her arm. "I talked to the cops."

"I don't understand." She cried. "He was doing so - so good."

"I know." And he did. He knew exactly what she was going through. His father was dead, too.

 _Dead. Never coming back_. Christ, it was all too much.

For two days, Letty cried. Vented. Cried some more. Slept. Vented. And then cried again.

Dom never left her side.

When her grandparents came into town to help her make arrangements for the funeral, Dom was there. Letty was nineteen, a legal adult and according to her father's will, she was to make all of the important decisions. The only thing her father truly wanted was that everyone wear white and celebrate that he was free.

And so they did. Matéo, who was honorably discharged, was honored with a twenty-one gun salute, and Letty was bestowed with a flag folding presentation. When the finally corner was tucked, it was placed in her hands.

In the days after the home going service, the estate lawyer came by the house. Letty was surprised by the news that her father owned the land and that it was hers for as long as she wanted. She'd also come into nice amount of money. Letty didn't want to keep the house, but the real estate agent she'd hired told her that it would be difficult to sell the property as they would have to go low in price and reveal to prospective tenants that a death happened on the premises.

In the end, the brunette decided to keep the house and she, instead, rented to Leon, Jesse and Vince. Her grandparent's left town again, and she was all on her own, choosing to move in with Mia and Dom.

* * *

 _Two years later..._

"...Anthony William Orbwitz…" The dean of students announced followed by modest applause from the crowd. "Leticia Ana-Gabriela Ortiz."

The crowd roared. Dom, Mia, Vince, Leon, Jesse, and Brian shot to their feet screaming their lungs out, letting everyone know who they were there for. Onstage, Letty blushed, accepting her bachelor's degree and shaking the dean's hand.

"Well, you certainly have a great support team behind you." He whispered to her. She grinned, nodding.

"I couldn't have done this without them." And then she was walking down the steps on the opposite side of the stage, an official graduate of University of Southern California, at Venice Beach.

Following the ceremony, Dom had organized a celebratory barbecue in the backyard of their house. The entire neighborhood had been invited to show their support and pride for Letty. It was rare that someone in their neighborhood even made it to twenty-one years of age, let alone graduate with high honors from a prestigious university. And with everything that Letty had been through in the past two years, she deserved every moment.

Somewhere between the bachata and cake presentation, there was an ebb in excitement. People were eating, drinking, and having a great time. Dom and Letty found themselves alone at the picnic table where they'd shared many a meal. The pair were talking about the Dominican Republic for a possible romantic getaway, when they both heard:

"Letty?"

The brunette looked up and two emotions shot across her face; shock, followed closely by anger.

"Your grandparents said this is where you lived now."

In the seven seconds that followed, Dom was powerless. He watched, helplessly, as Letty jumped up from the table and reared back, slapping the woman across her face.

"Jesus fuck, Letty!" He hopped up onto the table, grabbing her hand just in time before she land another blow.

"It's fine." The woman replied, holding her cheek. "I deserve that."

"You don't deserve anything, you heartless bitch."

She flinched at Letty's words, but she was right.

"She's still your mom, Letty."

"Alex, here, doesn't know how to be a mother. Or a wife. Or anything other than selfish. Do you, Alex?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" She pleaded.

"Where were you when _papí_ was breaking? Or when he was trying to recover? Or when he died, huh? Where were you when I was trying to shove his brains back into his goddamn skull?"

Dom looked around, thanking god that no one seemed to be paying much attention to the scene that was playing out in the middle of the backyard.

"Letty, I'm sorry. I can't take any of those things back. I can't make my wrongs, right. But I just wanted to-."

"I don't give a damn what you want." Letty started to march off towards the house. Dom knew that his girlfriend was still recovering every day from her father's suicide. And this unexpected visit from her mother would just set her progress back.

In the quiet of the house, Alexandra was able to stop Letty in the living room, Dom following moments later.

"Letty, I'm here, and I know I haven't been the best mother, but you have to understand that I left to save my life. Twice your father tried to kill me."

Letty stopped in her pursuit of the stairs, but didn't turn to face Alex.

"For six months, he called me Marjana, mistaking me for a Pakistani woman that he'd slept with overseas. He found out that she was just sleeping with him to get information on his troop's next plan of attack." Alexandra explained. "Once in the middle of the night, I woke him up from a dream and he wrapped his hands around my neck so tightly, I almost passed out. Two weeks before I left for good, I woke up to him pressing his service weapon against my forehead. He tried to interrogate me, believing that I was the her again."

Letty took her foot off of the step and shifted to look at her mother.

"I am sorry I left you. I thought you were safe in your dorm room. I didn't know you were going to move back in with him."

"I moved back in because he'd just lost his wife and he needed help. He didn't need to lose me, too."

"I'm sorry that I left you all alone." Alexandra practically whispered.

"I wasn't alone. I had Daddy. And then when I didn't have him anymore, I had Dom. And Mia, and Jesse and Vince and Leon. Still do. I was never alone. And I never will be. I have my own family now."

Alex nodded her head. She found the courage to look her daughter in the eyes. "I understand. But do you think you could find it in your heart for one more member?"

Letty stared at her mother for a long time, considering this. She both hated and loved Alexandra. Things hadn't always been bad between them. She'd broken Letty's heart when she left like a thief in the night, only leaving behind a note sprayed in the perfume she always wore. It'd only said that she would explain one day, but Letty hadn't known then that she would harden her heart.

However, it was like Dom - the voice of reason - had said: Alexandra was still her mom. It would take a lot of time before Letty could let her back in again...

 _But time heals all wounds._


End file.
